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Prenatal Education Class: A special relationship between 3 moms and daughters

In the Winter of 2011, my husband Cameron and I (Megan Rask) were expecting our first child. We were beyond thrilled! I had been doing my care with the midwives at Mayo Clinic, Rochester. Of course, I wanted to sign my husband and I up for every baby class offered!

We soon began the six week prenatal education class, instructed by Christine Baker, R.N. Along with this class, I made sure to sign us up for the infant passenger safety class, and a tour of the labor and delivery floor in Eisenberg.Â We also took our newly purchased SUV to the local fire station to have our infant seat inspected by Todd Emanuel, R.N. As parents to be, this was high on our list of things to do: make sure our baby would be safe in our new family car!

In prenatal class, we met two other couples: Bethany Renstrom and her husband (expecting a baby girl) and Stephanie Fisk and her husband (also expecting a little girl). My husband and I were patiently waiting until the day of delivery to find out the sex of our baby. In class, Chris went over everything we needed to know to prepare for the birth of our baby: bathing a newborn, practicing breathing through contractions, and where to park and what doors to come in once we were in labor. She even showed us the gown and pads weâ€™d wear in the hospital, and the Forceps they might use, in the event our baby was in a difficult situation. Seeing all these things in class made it easier for me to mentally prepare for labor.

The six week class went by in a snap. We had all exchanged email addresses at our last class, including Chris, who even made a special visit to our hospital room to meet our daughter, Brenna Hope Rask.Â Soon after we were home from the hospital, I emailed my â€śprenatal class friendsâ€ť in hopes to hear back on their experiences. Little did I know weâ€™d become close friends even after our prenatal class days.

It has been 17 months since the birth of our babies. Weâ€™ve had numerous play-dates at Monkey Junction, taken a mommy and me swim class through the Rochester Family YMCA, celebrated our girls first birthdays together, and met at the library for story time. We still talk about our pregnancies, deliveries, breastfeeding, and compare how our toddlers are doing.